I'm ahead of the curve this year. Laura and I went with my mom to vote early over a week ago. This is the second time I've voted early—the first was 2008. I actually prefer to vote on election day—you usually vote close to where you live. Election day is a snapshot of your neighbors that is unavailable at any other time. So, go out and vote. My friends and family in North Carolina can find their polling places via the N.C.State Board of Elections. Those polling locations should be open from 6:30 this morning until 7:30 this evening. For those of you outside of North Carolina, use this potentially not child or work friendly non-partisan site.
Election Day should be a national holiday. It should be something that's celebrated. Mark and I pretty much landed on the same page when I brought up the idea of making Election Day a paid holiday at Registered Creative. So we did. The nice thing about being a partner in a small business is that you can decide stuff like that over a cup of coffee. The bad side of being a partner in a small business means you're more than likely working at least part of a paid holiday.
So get out there and vote.
Now it Gets Partisan.
Speaking of small business, I can't see backing Romney. His business experience is the dismantling of small companies. Loading them with debt, then liquidating them. It's the antithesis of what I think businesses should strive for: making (or improving) things.
When I read about President Obama's letter to a 10-year-old I couldn't help but to think about the vote earlier this year on Amendment One. I can't think of any other way of describing a vote for Romney—or any candidate courting the support of the Tea Party Movement—as I did Amendment One back in May:
[An] endorsement of bigotry. A means of punishing anyone who doesn’t fit some imagined status quo.
And this goes far beyond the scope of LGBT issues — women's health is a huge issue here. The Romney/Ryan ticket leans towards removing a woman's control over her health choices. A ticket that, until he was heard talking about his beliefs, supported the backward views of Todd Akin and Legitimate Rape.
Some of the most telling moments of the Romney campaign have come from the Governor himself—when he didn't realize he was being recorded. There was, most memorably, the now famous 47%. But then there's also Romney on his Mormonism from this past week.
I could go on listing the ways in which Governor Romney has indicated he's more interested in taking us back: civil rights, women's health, energy plan, foreign relations. Everything. And worse, he's been the candidate that is willing to say anything he thinks will let him check POTUS off on his bucket list.
Everyone is fatigued at this point. The election is almost over. Lets finish it off.